Catholic Thinkers

Does God Exist? by Christopher Kaczor: 6. Does God (the Uncaused Cause) have a Will?

In this video, I look at the various questions including:  Does God (the Uncaused Cause) have a will? How does God will? What does God will? Does Aquinas contradict himself on God’s will? Rather than appealing to faith, we look at the reasons Aquinas gives for answering these questions. If Thomas is right, then the Uncaused Cause is very much like the God of Abraham in having a will. The views of Aquinas give rise to further questions about how to reconcile faith and reason, questions that we will take up in future lectures. 

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/skKC97FAPl4

Does God Exists? by Christopher Kaczor: 5. Is God (the Uncaused Cause) Intelligent?

In this lecture, we consider the reasons Aquinas gives that the Uncaused Cause must be intelligent. We also compare and contrast Divine Intelligence and human intelligence. If Aquinas’s arguments are right, then we have considerably diminished the alleged gap between the “God of the Philosophers” and the intelligent “God of Abraham.” We also examine various challenges that can be raised against Aquinas’s views.

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/ncrL8NZC6PA

Does God Exist? by Christopher Kaczor: 4. Is God like the Force in Star Wars? Does Aquinas Prove Polytheism?

Is God like the Force in Star Wars? Does Aquinas prove polytheism? 
 
In this lecture, the fourth of nine, we consider whether God is a mixture of good and evil, with a light side and a dark side. Thomas argues that reason alone shows that the Uncaused Cause cannot be composed of anything, and so cannot be partly good and partly evil. Moreover, we look at Thomas’s teaching that there cannot be more than one Uncaused Cause, and that the Uncaused Cause is the very same as the Unmoved Mover, the absolutely Necessary being, the Greatest Good, and the Intelligence that gives order to nature. We also examine various challenges that can be raised against Aquinas’s views.

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/DqjNS3nZAxs

Does God Exists? by Christopher Kaczor: 3. What Can We Know about the Uncaused Cause?

In this third lecture of nine, we look at what Thomas Aquinas says about God, faith, and reason, in the beginning of the Summa contra Gentiles. For Thomas, it is a false dilemma to pit faith against reason, as if we had to choose between them. Rather, Thomas holds that the best way forward is a faithful reason and a reasonable faith. Thomas holds that we can learn something about God by way of negative theology whereby we deny things about God so as to have a less inaccurate view of God. We also examine various challenges that can be raised against Aquinas’s views.

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/yaQfc_LxNjk

Does God Exist? by Christopher Kaczor: 2. The Five Ways

What are the “Five Ways” Thomas Aquinas argues for God’s existence?
 
In this second lecture of nine, we examine Thomas Aquinas’s famous arguments for God’s existence put forward in the Summa theologiae. Thomas argues that there must be an Unmoved Mover, an Uncaused First Cause, an absolutely Necessary being, a Greatest Good, and an Intelligence that gives order to nature. These Five Ways have been subject to intense debate over the centuries, and we present some of the chief arguments against the Five Ways such as that they prove polytheism rather than monotheism, that they prove at best the “God of the Philosophers” rather than the “God of Abraham,” and that the existence of evil disproves God’s existence.

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/ZIu0B0ZJ2Pk

Does God Exists? By Christopher Kaczor: 1. The Kalam Cosmological Argument

It is reasonable to believe that God exists?

In the first lecture of nine, we examine the Kalam cosmological argument which can be simply summarized. The major premise is “Everything which begins to exist has a cause.” The minor premise is, “The universe (all time, all space, and all matter) began to exist”. It follows logically from both of these premises that, “The universe has a cause.” The cause of the universe is prior to all time, so this cause must be timeless or eternal. The cause of the universe is prior to all space, so this cause must not be beyond the space-time continuum. The cause of the universe is prior to all matter, so this cause is immaterial or spiritual. Finally, the cause of the universe is immensely powerful given that this cause brings about all time, all space, and all matter. The word in English that many people would use to describe an immensely powerful, eternal, immaterial, cause of the universe beyond the space-time continuum is God. We also discuss why Thomas Aquinas rejected the Kalam cosmological argument.

catholicthinkers.org

https://youtu.be/gMCkmnqTEaA

The Science Before Science by Anthony Rizzi: 8. How Then Should We Do Science?

Recorded in 2003. Prof. Rizzi defends the notion that we know things about the world prior to doing science in the modern sense, and that this primary knowledge is the continuing presupposition of doing science or anything else. This course aims to place modern science in the wider context of human knowledge from which it can only escape by way of forgetfulness.

https://youtu.be/O6tBTAPqCqU

catholicthinkers.org

The Science Before Science by Anthony Rizzi: 7. Mathematical Morality

Recorded in 2003. Prof. Rizzi defends the notion that we know things about the world prior to doing science in the modern sense, and that this primary knowledge is the continuing presupposition of doing science or anything else. This course aims to place modern science in the wider context of human knowledge from which it can only escape by way of forgetfulness.

https://youtu.be/1ri1HsMkgdU

catholicthinkers.org

The Science Before Science by Anthony Rizzi: 6. God

Recorded in 2003. Prof. Rizzi defends the notion that we know things about the world prior to doing science in the modern sense, and that this primary knowledge is the continuing presupposition of doing science or anything else. This course aims to place modern science in the wider context of human knowledge from which it can only escape by way of forgetfulness.

https://youtu.be/nZAaprCCq-g

catholicthinkers.org

The Science Before Science by Anthony Rizzi: 5. Problems in Modern Science

Recorded in 2003. Prof. Rizzi defends the notion that we know things about the world prior to doing science in the modern sense, and that this primary knowledge is the continuing presupposition of doing science or anything else. This course aims to place modern science in the wider context of human knowledge from which it can only escape by way of forgetfulness.

https://youtu.be/S09moZNQp_g

catholicthinkers.org